Sarah Al Amiri: who is the young space chief behind UAE's mission to Mars?

From launching satellites to a planned lunar mission, the engineer is the key driver of this country's space ambitions

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  The Hope probe launches from Japan's Tanegashima Space Centre on July 20. AFP

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  It will take the spacecraft, which later detached from the rocket, about 200 days to reach the Red Planet, arriving in February 2021. Courtesy: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

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  The launch of the rocket is captured on video at Japan's Tanegashima Space Centre. Courtesy: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

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  The first homegrown Arab space mission drew in interest from across the globe. Courtesy: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

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  The launch of the rocket from Japan's Tanegashima Space Centre. Courtesy: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

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  Waiting for the launch in the morning light. MHI Launch Services twitter

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  Emirati journalists clap as they watch the launch of the Hope space probe at Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai. AP

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  A broadcasting of the launch of the Hope Mars probe at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai. AFP

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  An Emirati man wipes a tear away with his face mask while watching the launch of the Hope space probe at Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai. AP

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  Mohammed Al Mannaee, an announcer with Dubai TV, reacts as he watches the launch. AP

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  Sarah Al Ameeri and the UAE team watch the launch at at the Tanegashima Space Centre

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  The UAE team watch the launch of the Mars Hope probe at at the Tanegashima Space Centre.

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  Sarah Al Ameeri and the UAE team watch the launch at at the Tanegashima Space Centre

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  A screen broadcasts the launch of the Mars probe at Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai. AFP

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  Solid rocket booster (SRB-A) was separated after burnout during the launch of the H-2A rocket carrying the Hope Probe, developed by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the Mars explore, are recorded by cameras onboard the rocket after the lauch from Tanegashima Space Center on the island of Tanegashima, Japan. REUTERS

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  A screen broadcasts the launch of the Mars probe at Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai. AFP

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  The launch of the rocket from Japan's Tanegashima Space Centre. Courtesy: MHI Launch Services

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  Omran Sharaf, the project director for the Hope space probe, speaks on his mobile phone at Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai. AP

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  Sarah Al Ameeri, Minister of State for Advanced Sciences of United Arab Emirates, celebrates with Naohiko Abe, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Senior Vice President, Head of Integrated Defence and Space Systems, after the successful launch of the H-2A rocket carrying the Hope Probe, developed by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the Mars explore, at Tanegashima Space Center on the island of Tanegashima, Japan. REUTERS

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  Emiratis are pictured at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai ahead of the expected launch of the "Hope" Mars probe from Japan. AFP

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  The weather was clear over Tanegashima Island in southern Japan on Sunday after weeks of rain and cloudy conditions. Courtesy: Dubai Media Office

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  Emirati engineers wave in a picture taken on Sunday from Japan's Tanegashima Space Centre. Courtesy: Emirates Mars Mission / UAE Space Agency

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  The launch of the rocket from Japan's Tanegashima Space Centre. Screengrab courtesy MHI Launch Services

National Editorial: What Hope and the Mars Mission means

UAE space chief Sarah Al Amiri spearheads the mission to Mars, which will make history if it successfully orbits the Red Planet on Tuesday.

She is Minister of State for Advanced Technology and was appointed chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency in 2020.

The mother-of-two began her career a decade ago building satellites.

Later, she was part of the team that sent an Emirati astronaut to space and now has her sights on an upcoming lunar mission.

As the Hope probe prepares to enter Mars' orbit at 7.42pm UAE-time on Tuesday, we look at a career destined for the stars.

Launching a stellar career

In 2009, she graduated with a bachelor’s in computer engineering from the American University of Sharjah.

"It was a deep fascination into how these objects and computers worked. How they were built, how they were designed and how the hardware operates with the software,” she said in a recent interview.

In 2009, she was hired by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (then called the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology) to work on the UAE’s first satellite, DubaiSat-1.

Since then, she has held multiple titles, including chairperson of UAE Council of Scientists and manager of space science section at the space centre.

She has been leading the Emirates Mars Mission as the deputy manager and science lead.

Speaking to The National for a podcast series reflecting on the year 2020, Ms Al Amiri explained how she and her team were able to launch a probe to Mars at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“That is what space teaches you, just be the nature of the risk that is in the business”.

She also have advice for those who have to lead a team through uncertain times:

“Change is not something that comes naturally to us ... but on the other hand, adaptability is something that comes naturally to us”, saying we must learn to balance between the two.

Climbing the ranks

Ms Al Amiri’s interest and contribution to the country’s space programme helped her achieve more senior roles.

In a UAE Cabinet reshuffle in 2017, she was appointed as the Minister of State for Advanced Sciences.

In another reshuffle last year, she became the chairwoman of UAE Space Agency, which is a federal entity that manages and supervises the nation’s space sector, and was named Minister of State for Advanced Technology.

Since her appointment, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, announced that more space missions – including human spaceflights and satellites – would in the works over the next decade.

Global accolades

Ms Al Amiri was selected as one of 50 young scientists that were honoured by the World Economic Forum in 2015. Her efforts in helping develop the fields of science, tech and engineering were highlighted.

In 2016, the varsity she graduated from placed her in the Alumni Wall of Fame.

More recently, she was included in the BBC's 100 Women 2020.

Success built on strong foundations

Ms Al Amiri was raised in Abu Dhabi and comes from a line of accomplished women, including doctors, accountants, teachers and bankers.

"My mother is a college graduate. She was a teacher who was quite passionate about what she was doing," Ms Al Amiri told news wire AFP.

Dubai's mission control - in pictures 

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  'The National' visited mission control at Dubai's Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre to learn how engineers are preparing for Hope probe's Mars orbit insertion, set for February 9. All photos by Chris Whiteoak / The National

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  Omar Abdelrahman Hussain, mission design and navigation lead, said mission team will mostly be observers on the day. There is an 11-minute communication delay because of the distance between the two planets, so live commands will not be sent

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  The Hope probe is close to completing a distance of 493.5 million kilometres. It launched on July 20, 2020 aboard a Japanese rocket and will study the upper and lower atmosphere of the Red Planet. Emirates Mars Mission

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  Pre-programmed manoeuvers have been set into the spacecraft so it can perform an automated entry into orbit

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  The programming includes firing the probe's six thrusters for 28 minutes to slow it down from about 100,000 kph to 18,000 kph to get captured into Mars' orbit

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  There will also be a brief period when communication is lost when the spacecraft travels behind Mars, blocking the signal. Engineers will do a full evaluation of how orbit entry went once contact is restored

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  Khalid Mohammad Badri, instrument science engineer, said the scientific instruments aboard the spacecraft will remain safe during orbit entry and will be tested after completion of this critical stage

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  All communication with the probe has been made possible through Nasa's Deep Space Network. Their massive ground radio arrays in California, Spain and Australia are the first to send and receive telemetry from the spacecraft. The antenna in Madrid will be the first to know how orbit entry went

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  Mahmood Abdulaziz AlNasser, mission operations control development lead, said the team remains confident the orbit entry will go as planned. This stage is equally challenging as the rocket launch stage

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  The probe will spend 40 hours in the capture orbit and then be transferred into the science orbit, where it will spend two years gathering data on the planet's dynamic weather conditions. It is the first time a spacecraft will be positioned so high above the Red Planet, allowing it to capture different weather patterns throughout a single day. Nasa

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  If orbit entry is successful, the UAE will become the fifth nation worlwide to reach Mars